I'm feeling clueless about dieting.

[Whathaveilost]

I woke up and my stomach is like a barrel. I look 8 months pregnant and I've discovered I weigh 13 stone.

I knew it was going to be bad but I'm still shocked.

I'm a veggie. I know low carb is good but I don't even know how to start.

Any advice to get me going?

Hi, sorry to hear you feel this way! It's all actually pretty easy, to start with try going gluten free for a few weeks, I can almost guarantee you will see a huge difference in bloating. Also increase protein and good fat intake, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, butter, coconut oil and ghee, they are all amazing at filling you up.

The first thing you need to understand is that in order to lose weight you must eat fewer calories than you will burn.

The complexity occurs because there are a myriad of different ways of achieving this. Different approaches work for different people, and once you find "your" way you can become very enthusiastic about it! So, "low carb is good" is only good if you A) currently take in a load of your calories via carbs and B) can stick to reducing them.

Where to start? Read up on different approaches/diets and find one that works for you.

I've had a few false starts, cutting down on sugar and proceeded foods and cut alcohol out. After two weeks nothing had changed, not even lost 1oz and got disillusioned.
I know it'd a slow process but I expected at least 1 pound to have gone!!
I find it a little difficult because I'm a sweet toothed veggie!

You're still eating too many calories then. The first two weeks the pounds should really drop off.

I though I was taking the SW approach.
I hadn't had the usual refined carbs such s pasta, cereal, etc.

I had started everyday with a banana smoothie as previously I was a cereal junkie. I made it with almond milk, banana and skyr and ice cubes.

Starting today, I will write everything down!!

Some good tips for kicking off weight loss

1. Look at Paul Mackenna's Way of eating. Eating slowly is one of the most important rules.

1. Give up all caffienated and alcoholic drinks, except the odd green tea, and drink plenty of herbal teas and water. Esp. when you feel hungry and have eaten recently.

1. Eat fruit on an empty stomach.

4.Eat either side of the hours 7.3o.am and 7.30 pm.

I lost over a stone doing the above and wasn't intending to!

I've just come across a new diet, after years of unsuccessful mucking about with different ways of eating (MFP, low carb, Paul McKenna, attempts at vaguely eating healthily). I'm only just starting it, but it seems so sane and sensible that I'm thinking of starting a thread on it myself.

It's called the No S Diet. The rules are:

No Snacking (i.e. no eating between meals AT ALL)
No Sweets (i.e. sugary stuff, puddings etc)
No Seconds

...except on days beginning with S (Saturdays, Sundays and Special Days - birthdays etc.)

There's a website here which is helpful and also very funny.

Yes interesting holmes but I lost 3 stone on the Paul Mckenna and if you do it properly it works well. Including eating when you're really hungry which sometimes means nutritious snacking.

Many congrats on your impressive weight loss! I'm sure the Paul McKenna works really well for some people. What it has in common with the No S diet is that it's based on a few simple rules. I just found that it still required a bit too much thinking about it. And I'm just sooo fed up with thinking about how I eat. Even thinking about eating mindfully, and thinking about weighing up how hungry I am, and listening to the CDs was just pissing me off! And I just know that I wouldn't do it 'properly' forever. I am hoping that the No S Diet will require very little thinking, as the rules are all things which can become basic habits.

Thanks Holmes If you could manage the no sugar rule ,that would be difficult for me, but everyone's different so you may well be successful on it.

P.M. is just 2nd nature to me now, I'll do it forever I reckon.

This is what I meant about people getting enthusiastic about what worked for them. In my experience how people limit calories successfully varies widely.

ppeatfruit - I don't know if I can manage it yet - I've only just started today ! But the fact that I can eat sugar at weekends will hopefully keep me going.

I love what the website says about the theory behind it - i.e. that the key to staying or getting slim is to eat with moderation. And that most modern diets or 'ways of eating' try to get around that by blaming a particular food or food group for making us fat. Which is simply an exercise in denial. You need a certain amount of willpower to eat with moderation, but you might succeed if you make the rules few and simple and not too restrictive.